52 – Identity
“…Coachman, as fast as you can!”
“Yes…yes! Understood!”
With that, the carriage raced off, reaching the road near Snowfield Village. They immediately got off and ran towards the village.
“This is crazy… What is this?!”
“This is just…”
“…………”
The residents of the blazing Snowfield Village were outside the small fence, screaming as they took refuge. The residents’ homes had already turned into ashes, reduced to rubble.
The space filled with happy memories burned down, crumbling into ruins.
“The children, that girl from back then… Venice?”
Ariel, quietly observing the residents, confirmed that all the Snowfield Village residents who had come with Venice in the past were there. Only Venice was nowhere to be seen.
“Th-those black mages over there…!”
“Oh, our village… Our homes…!”
“aaah…!”
“Black mages…? Could it be…!”
“…Ariel, where are you going!”
“If you go, we have to go together!”
Ariel, with a firm expression, ran towards the center of the village, and Keil and Freya, noticing Ariel, quickly followed.
“Could it be… Could it be…!”
The burning Snowfield Village. And the black mages mentioned in the residents’ screams.
…Everyone is visible, but the only one not seen is Venice.
Ariel forcefully pushed away the anxiety rising from deep within her chest and the wild imagination running through her mind.
Beep- Beep beep beep-!
At that moment, a loud alert sound began to emanate consecutively from within Ariel’s embrace. Ariel searched for the origin of that sound and pulled it out.
The source of the noise was the dark wizard detection artifact that Lyde had handed over. The artifact emitted a continuous red light, creating a loud alarm sound.
“Is that… the dark wizard detection artifact?”
“I’ve never seen it behave like this before. If the artifact is activated, it means…”
“There’s a dark wizard ahead of us.”
Reaching this conclusion, they tensed up and lowered their stances. Ready to respond to any attack, they raised their mana, vigilantly guarding in all directions.
Beep- Beep- Beep-
As Eriel held the artifact and brought it to the corner crossing the village, the artifact flashed even brighter. Seeing this, they looked at each other and began to muster their magic.
“What the-! You… What are you doing here! Die!”
Crossing the village, a dark wizard hiding around the corner appeared. As soon as he saw them, he unleashed his dark magic at them.
To the dark wizard, it seemed like a surprise attack, but for them, who had already located him with the artifact, it was ineffective.
“Sto….*cough*, *cough*!”
“Eriel-! Magic Missile!!”
While Eriel was chanting her spell, she coughed up blood, disrupting the magic. Kael quickly raised her mana and launched it at the dark wizard.
The dark wizard, not even imagining a counterattack, was struck by the magic and died on the spot.
“*Cough*… *Cough*.”
“Eriel!! What’s happening to you all of a sudden!”
“You…! What’s going on! You said you were all better!”
Kael and Pria, shocked to see Eriel suddenly coughing up blood, asked her, but even Eriel couldn’t answer their question.
‘Why… is this happening?’
The reason was that she didn’t know the cause herself. She had never experienced a failed spell or coughed up blood in her life.
Just moments ago, I tried to use my most confident magic, the Severing Spell, as usual.
But suddenly, I felt a backflow of mana from within my body, making it impossible to cast the spell. It felt as if… something was rendering the use of mana impossible.
The agonizing pain, like a worm burrowing into my heart and gnawing from the inside, made it utterly impossible to even attempt it.
“….Urgh. Let’s put this aside for now. Let’s hurry to the center. There might be others there.”
“You…! Sigh. Fine. But you must not use any magic!”
“We’ll protect you! Don’t you go getting hurt on your own again!”
With that, they hurried toward the center of the village.
Along the way, warlocks suddenly appeared, but they were no match for them, being among the top ranks at the Academy.
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Moreover, the warlocks, for some reason, all emerged clutching their wounds and spewing curses, making them easier to handle.
Boom-!
Burning houses collapsed, and the sounds of explosions followed in succession.
Upon reaching the village center, a vast clearing greeted them. The heart of Snowfield Village, once featuring a small fountain and a beautiful square, now lay desolate like the center of a battlefield.
Scattered wooden planks, ash whirling in the wind. A stream of water slowly flowing from the shattered fountain, forming a river.
And there, in the center, stood a figure in a black robe. Around him lay numerous bodies of warlocks.
The black magic spears embedded in their bodies were slowly vanishing, barely observable to the naked eye.
The man in the black robe seemed to be extracting something from the warlock beneath his feet, as dark energy slowly rose towards him.
“…Warlock!”
“Did you bring down this entire village, you vermin!!”
Kale and Pria, looking at the completely burnt-down village, unleashed their accumulated anger towards the warlock before them.
“……..!”
Abruptly.
The Dark Mage, upon hearing their voices, turned around. Clad in a black robe and a hood, the Dark Mage stopped in her tracks as if a robot had suddenly malfunctioned.
The reason why the Dark Mage came to a halt was unknown to the girls, but seeing the mage visibly fatigued, they lowered their stances and concentrated their mana.
“Mana Missile-!”
“Entangling Vines!”
A vigorous vine sprouted beneath Freya’s foot, charging towards the Dark Mage, while a mana arrow conjured from Kale’s grasp aimed precisely for the Dark Mage’s forehead.
Swiftly reaching the Dark Mage’s nose with a spell of rapid speed, the girls anticipated victory.
Swoosh…
“………!”
“What in…!”
The Dark Mage’s figure vanished like a mirage before their eyes. Startled, the girls couldn’t help but look around, unable to conceal their surprise.
Ariel, silently reading the flow of mana around, focused her gaze on a place where the mana flow strangely ceased.
“There you are.”
Thunk-!
As they gazed through that spot, a sound resembling glass shattering echoed, revealing the hidden figure of the Dark Mage.
“In dark magic, it seems they can conceal themselves like that. Disgusting bastards.”
“Be prepared. The crime of endangering the villagers is not a light one!”
“………”
Ariel wanted to unleash her anger, seeing her friends expressing their rage. However, an inexplicable turmoil in her chest prevented her from doing so as she continued to observe the Dark Mage.
‘What on earth… Why is this happening? It’s just a Dark Mage.’
Certainly, in the same robes and masks as the sorcerers I’ve seen so far, and even wielding the imperceptible black magic they use.
That guy is undoubtedly a sorcerer. However… unease welled up in one corner of Ariel’s chest.
“……..”
The sorcerer reached out to them and began to approach. But the women were not just watching in silence.
“Don’t come closer! Fireball!”
“Tremor-!”
The ground surged, the sorcerer’s center began to crumble, and the flying fireball, at the moment of impact, blazed fiercely, making life and death uncertain.
Swoosh…
“…He’s trying to hide again! Ariel, did he do something earlier too?!”
“Just wait a moment.”
As he tried to hide his form and disappear somewhere again, Ariel read the flow as much as possible without using much mana.
“Found him.”
Clang-!
Not far from where the sorcerer stood. The sorcerer, who had turned away and was running away, reappeared.
“Why are you running?! Causing harm to people and worrying about your own life?!”
“Or is there a reason you can’t attack, you filthy bug!”
Even though she shouted like that, the presence of the sorcerer pressed on the women with a sense of oppression.
If that sorcerer, who was immune to even their most powerful magic, decided to attack, he could easily overwhelm them.
However, for some reason, the sorcerer did not attack them. Concentrating only on evasion, he seemed determined not to engage in combat.
It was strange, focusing solely on avoiding without actively fighting. But now was not the time to ponder such thoughts.
‘…Just once. Let’s endure it just this once.’
As Kale and Freya drew the attention of the dark wizard, Ariel focused her entire mind on preparing for a single attack.
Suppressing the anxiety squeezing her heart, she endured the dreadful pain, grinding through it to accumulate enough mana for just one attack.
“Sever.”
Swish-!
Though the intensity was weaker than usual and she coughed up a bit of blood after casting the spell, the perfect severing magic began to rush towards the dark wizard.
“……..!”
Crash-!
However, whether it was luck or evasion upon seeing the magic, the severing spell merely grazed the dark wizard’s mask, shattering it to pieces.
Crackle-
The shattered mask pieces fell to the ground, revealing the face of the dark wizard.
“….Brother?”
“Why are you…”
Simultaneously, the voices of Kale and Freya, filled with despair, reached Ariel. Ignoring the rising anxiety, Ariel stared at the dark wizard.
Black hair tied like the night sky. Enchanting crimson eyes as if soaked in blood.
“V… Venice…?”
Venice. Her assigned familiar stood in the spot where the dark wizard had been, looking at her.
Why is he going around acting like a dark mage